Gohan's Metamorphosis
"Gohan's Metamorphosis" is the fifth episode of the Vegeta Saga and the fifth episode in the original Saban dub of the Dragon Ball Z series. It aired in first-run syndication on October 11, 1996. Summary Piccolo leaves Gohan in the middle of Break Wasteland, saying that he will be back in six months to teach him how to fight; if he cannot learn to survive on his own, he does not deserve to live, much less fight. While Gohan bawls to himself on Earth, Goku tries to save some time by leaping entire sections of Snake Way, but catches his foot on an incredibly sharp scale and nearly falls off. Elsewhere, Krillin is picked to visit the homestead, where he has to break the bad news to Chi-Chi about what happened to Gohan and Goku, but when directly confronted with the Ox King and his hot tempered daughter, he cannot bring himself to do so. Gohan is chased by a T-Rex, and flees up a large rock formation, from which he cannot climb down again. Piccolo secretly watches Gohan's activities through his time there. Krillin, still unable to break the news to Chi-Chi, returns to Kame House, where Master Roshi and Bulma are waiting for him. Yajirobe then shows up with a message from Korin: assemble the remaining Z Fighters at the top of Korin Tower, as Kami has decided to train them. The Ox King and Chi-Chi are hot on Krillin's trail, in search of her husband and son. She faints when told about how the "monster" Piccolo abducted her baby and when Goku died. That evening, a starving Gohan, who is still atop the rock formation, goes to sleep hungry but Piccolo, in a rare display of tenderness, brings his some apples. When Gohan wakes, he unexpectedly transforms into a Great Ape. Piccolo realizes that the full moon is the cause, and destroys it with a single blast. He then removes Gohan's tail after he reverts to normal, and uses his Magic Materialization to create an outfit with the "demon" glyph and a sword for the unconscious boy. The power Gohan displayed as a Great Ape causes Piccolo to be frightened by the idea of how powerful the arriving Saiyans (Nappa and Vegeta) would be in that state. Major events *The moon is destroyed by Piccolo. *Gohan's tail is cut off for the first time. *First appearance of Yajirobe since the end of Dragon Ball. Changes *Gohan's thought bubble of an apple tree is painted over for unknown reasons. Quotes Trivia *This episode marks the first appearance of the term "Next dimension", a phrase used throughout the Saban dub to cover up words such as death and kill. * Piccolo removes Gohan's tail, despite the fact that the moon was already destroyed. This may have just been done as a further safety precaution. *When Krillin is trying to decide what to say to Chi-Chi, one of the things he thinks about saying is "Goku is trapped in another dimension and Gohan's been kidnapped again." This might refer to Gohan being kidnapped by Raditz at the beginning of the series or to the movie Dragon Ball Z: Dead Zone where Garlic Jr.'s henchmen kidnapped Gohan, and now being taken by Piccolo to be trained. *Chi-Chi is seen driving a hovercar in this episode, but in a later episode she states that she can not drive. Gallery External links *IMDb page for "Gohan's Metamorphosis (1996)" *Review of the episode's censorship *Review of the episode's censorship Site Navigation Category:Episodes Category:Dragon Ball Z episodes Category:Edited Dragon Ball Z episodes Category:Vegeta Saga Category:Dragon Ball Z